Between 2000 and 2010, the United States lost one-third of its manufacturing jobs. But some economists are hopeful that a recent rebound in manufacturing employment signals a sustained turnaround.

Written by

Craig Ladwig

In the 1990s at the morning coffee shop I would run into a former mayor of my city, now retired. He was from the beginning a successful businessman and gifted politician, albeit a Democratic one. This is to thank him for his wisdom and prescience.

One morning the mayor let down his guard to make two observations - bons mots thrown to a young conservative friend, perhaps. Both have stayed with me.

"Indiana needs to learn to be itself," the mayor said that morning long ago. He had tried it the other way. For when a large manufacturing plant closed in our city in the 1980s, he was one of the first municipal ...